Opportunities and Challenges of Big Data in Public Sector

Abstract

Data has always been the backbone of modern society. It is generated by individuals, businesses and governments. It is used in many citizen-centric applications, including weather forecasts, controlling diseases, monitoring undesirables etc. What is changing is the source of data. Advances in technology are allowing data to be generated from any devise at any place in any form. The challenge is to “understand”, “manage” and make use of this data. It is well known that government generates unprecedented amount of data (ex: US census), the question remains: can this data be combined with technology generated data to make it useful for societal benefit. Governments and non-profits, however, work across borders making data access and integration challenging. Rules, customs and politics must be followed while sharing data across borders. Despite these challenges, big data application in public sector are beginning to emerge. This chapter discusses areas of government applications and also discusses challenges of developing such systems.